Disclaimer. Any similarity to any person/s or events you might have heard of are entirely coincidental. The characters depicted in this story are figments of the author's imagination.

When Les entered Barry's bar; young Jamie was nursing a beer at the far end of the counter staring down at a copy of the Bangkok World. There were scratches and bruising on his face. Behind the bar Barry winked at Les, nodding his head towards Jamie.

"Hello Les," said Barry with a smirk. "Here's a beer? How was your night?"

Les answered. "Good. It was rather lively here last night when the boys got back from Patpong. They obviously had a good time at the dance contest."

Turning to Jonny J. who stood at the bar Les said "You boys looked like you bought out all the winners. Was it a good night?"

Jonny, a slow speaking Kiwi answered "Not the winners Les, just some of the contenders."

Les turned back to Barry. "There were some cracking looking girls weren't there Barry? And seeing delectable Sue after so long was a surprise. I should get down to Patpong more often."

"She's a real character Les. That gothic look with black fingernails, torn dress and frizzy hair suited her. She's one of the few Thai girls who can carry it off." said Barry. "Was the costume part of dance routine Jonny?"

"Yeah, and to tell the truth she out-danced most of the others. Sex just oozes out of her when she dances. When she dances it's like she's making love." answered the usually quiet Jonny.

"Shame about her Glasgow accent isn't it?" asked Barry. "Les you knew her before she went to Scotland didn't you?"

Les drank his beer and then said "Yes Barry, before she married and went there with Willy. She worked down the road at the Butterfly A-Go-Go. Always was a great dancer. I guess it still shows even if she's ten years older than the other girls."

"She made a fuss of you Les when they came in here. How well did you know her?" asked Barry.

"Not like that Barry. Willy was a big bugger and I wasn't going to cross him. Of course he was as mad as she was, which is why they hit it off. You know she stayed with him in Glasgow for a few years. I couldn't imagine her doing that with anybody else." Glancing in Jamie's direction Les continued "In fact some people have trouble holding onto her for a day."

Jamie studiously ignored the conversation.

Jonny said "That's a bit unfair Les. It was Sue who picked out Jamie not the other way around. Anyway it wasn't a day it was about 3 hours before she spat the poor boy out."

The laughter that those listening to the conversation were trying to hold back at last escaped, forcing Jamie to enter the fray. "Come on guys, it's not funny. How could I know she was crazy?"

"What happened at the hotel last night then?" Les asked Jonny.

"Well it was about four in the morning Les. There was knocking on my door but I was already awake because of the noise from down the corridor. I opened the door and there was a naked Jamie saying he wanted to come in. He looked a right mess so I let him in. It was a bit of a shock for the girl I was with but we let him use bathroom to clean up and gave him a towel to protect his modesty. He was in a state of shock, weren't you Jamie?" Not giving Jamie a chance to answer he continued "He kept saying she's so and so mad and she's so and so crazy."

The drinkers were enjoying not only Jamie's discomfort but also the strange language Jonny tended to use.

Jonny was still telling his tale. "So we sat Jamie down and I gave him some scotch. He was shaking like he had just seen a ghost. He was saying things like 'She tried to kill me' and 'What did I do?' Anyway a couple of whiskeys and he starts to calm down. My girl finds some cream and a plaster in her bag and she cleans him up a little. You know she was a real good sport I think I will see her again... Now where was I? I know. About an hour goes by and we hear a door slam. I take a quick glance out the door and it's Sue, cool as cucumber, waiting for the lift. She gives me a smile and wave and then she's gone. So we waited ten minutes and then get the night porter to open Jamie's door with his pass key."

Without looking up Jamie said "It started so good Les. You saw us last night. We were all having so much fun. It carried on when we got back to the room. We had room service bring up food and more drinks. You know she can out drink most men. We get into bed and everything is fine. She's enjoying it too and I'm making a real effort. I think I'm in love at that point. Afterwards she falls asleep in my arms. After half an hour my arm is going dead so I roll her off my arm onto her side and I sort of snuggle up to her back thinking I will sleep well also. That's when she wakes up and it's Jekyll and Hyde."

Jamie takes a break, looks up and drinks some of his new beer. "You know she looks at me and it's like she doesn't know who I am. 'What are you doing?' she asks. 'Go to sleep' I say. She sits up and whacks me about three times in the face. I jump out of the bed and she's out too. She starts throwing things at me, glasses, bottles, plates, whatever comes to hand. I'm still asking 'What's the matter?' and saying things like 'Calm down', but I'm making for the door. I duck the last glass and I'm out of the door. Thank god I knew Jonny's room number."

Jamie finishes with. "I don't think I've been that scared in all my life. You know she didn't take anything. I didn't even get to give her any money. She just left. What was that all about Les?"

Feeling a little bit sorry for him Les said "Don't worry Jamie. I doubt it was anything to do with you. Maybe she had a bad memory of being rolled on her side. Who knows? Still you did something I never did all those years ago. You took a walk on the wild side Jamie and you will have the better story than me to tell when you get old."